I also get the impression that they have been handing out promotions like candy recently. I know that the system was broken before and people were withe leaving

I also get the impression that they have been handing out promotions like candy recently. I know that the system was broken before and people were withe leaving or threatening to leave to get promoted, but the flipside to fixing the review system too late is that you may be promoting the wrong people. Put another way, many of the level 64 SDEs I knew are now Principle (65+) for some this is long overdue, but for others it is unwarranted. Over-promotion can do horrible damage to a team, particularly when it moves someone into a broader decision making position than they ate capable of handling. Some of the QA issues may well stem from this